Home Office

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government when, and on what grounds, they decided not to seek a death penalty assurance in the cases of British ISIS operatives, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh; and why the approval of Parliament was not sought beforethis decision was made.

baroness williams of trafford: After careful and considered advice, the Home Secretary took the decision not to seek a death penalty assurance in this case in June 2018 in accordance with the Government’s Overseas, Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Guidance which requires an assessment of both human rights and death penalty risks.The OSJA guidance, which has been in existence since 2011, permits the provision of assistance, without obtaining assurances, where there are strong reasons for doing so and sets out the process for making that decision which does not involve a role for Parliament:“Ministers should be consulted to determine whether, given the specific circumstances of the case, we should nevertheless provide assistance.”Following the detention of these individuals the central concern was, and remains, the real prospect that if legal assistance was not offered to the US authorities without conditions, then they would not face criminal trial.Given the legal challenge that is currently underway, it is inappropriate to say more about this specific case.

Capital Punishment

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the UK has not sought death penalty assurances for British nationals or former British nationals when agreeing to their trialin another country.

baroness williams of trafford: Her Majesty’s Government does not have a role in agreeing to the trial of British or former British nationals in another country.However, a review of available records (dating back to 2001) has been undertaken and I can confirm that we have identified one occasion where we provided mutual legal assistance without a death penalty assurance where the death penalty was an available sentence which involved a British or former British national.Due to the potential to harm on-going criminal investigations or future prosecutions, and the confidentiality attached to mutual legal assistance, it would not be appropriate to share further information.I reiterate the statement by the Minister of State for Security on 23 July who sought to reassure the House that our long-standing position on the use of the death penalty has not changed. The UK has a long-standing policy of opposing the death penalty as a matter of principle regardless of nationality. Requests for Mutual Legal Assistance must be considered in accordance with the Government’s Overseas, Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Guidance, which requires an assessment of both human rights and death penalty risks.The OSJA guidance, which has been in existence since 2011, permits the provision of assistance, without obtaining assurances, where there are strong reasons for doing so:“Ministers should be consulted to determine whether, given the specific circumstances of the case, we should nevertheless provide assistance.”

Capital Punishment

the lord bishop of st albans: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement byBaroness Williams of Trafford on 24 July, how many times in the last 20 years they have decided not to seek deathpenaltyassurances for British or former British citizens; and what were the details of any such cases.

baroness williams of trafford: A review of available records (dating back to 2001) has been undertaken and I can confirm that we have identified one occasion where we have provided mutual legal assistance without a death penalty assurance where the death penalty was an available sentence which involved a British or former British national. Due to the potential to harm on-going criminal investigations or future prosecutions and the confidentiality attached to mutual legal assistance, it would not be appropriate to share further information.I reiterate the statement by the Minister of State for Security on 23 July (Official Record 23 July column 725) who sought to reassure the House that our long-standing position on the use of the death penalty has not changed. The UK has a long-standing policy of opposing the death penalty as a matter of principle regardless of nationality. Requests for Mutual Legal Assistance must be considered in accordance with the Government’s Overseas, Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Guidance, which requires an assessment of both human rights and death penalty risks.The OSJA guidance, which has been in existence since 2011, permits the provision of assistance, without obtaining assurances, where there are strong reasons for doing so:“Ministers should be consulted to determine whether, given the specific circumstances of the case, we should nevertheless provide assistance.”

Department for Exiting the European Union

Cooperatives

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of Brexit on co-operative institutions and companies that have members in a number of EU member states including the UK; and whether this issue is being considered as part of the Brexit negotiations.

lord callanan: The Government is negotiating for a future relationship with the European Union that works for all types of business in the UK and ministers from across the Government have carried out extensive engagement with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy regarding our exit from the EU.As noted in the Government’s recent White Paper on the UK’s future relationship with the EU, the UK is an outward-facing, trading nation.As such, there are no nationality restrictions on who can be a member of a co-operative institution or company under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 or any other UK legislation, and there are no plans for this to change after we leave the EU.